Korea's Growth Engines: Robotics

South Korea's robotics industry may be set to take off and could become an important growth engine for the nation's economy. On February 26, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy announced that a law intended to encourage the development and distribution of intelligent robots had passed the National Assembly. In a 2006 article, the New York Times noted that If all goes according to plan, robots will be in every South Korean household between 2015 and 2020. That is the prediction, at least, of the Ministry of Information and Communication, which has grouped more than 30 companies, as well as 1,000 scientists from universities and research institutes, under its wing. Some want to move even faster. In December of last year the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) announced that it concluded a contract with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in order to promote the international standardization of network robot. To do so, they plan to organize a specialist group and jointly hold workshops. Although South Korea's current market share in the robotics industry worldwide is small, it appears to have great potential. As Korea.com noted, "Korea’s potential in the robot industry is among the best in the world, armed with highly developed associated industries, such as consumer electronics, automobiles and communication equipment. The country’s superior IT infrastructure and rapid acceptance of new technologies will help boost growth, too." More on this industry in future posts.

More thoughts on growth engines: Military Technology

An article appeared in the English Chosun Ilbo today with the headline "Soldiers to get High Tech Combat Uniforms." If ever there was need for a reminder that the mainstream media around the globe have mis-placed their emphasis, this is it. The mainstream media would have us believe that North Korea's nuclear development and the associates Six-Party Talks are the major problem here. All the while, these same media report only in passing that South Korea has now become a technology and innovation driven, advanced economy, with military technology that far exceeds any capabilities in the North.

The article includes the following passage: "Soldiers of the future operating in winter will wear cold-weather clothing equipped with temperature-adjusting mechanisms. Their color-shifting uniforms will use digital camouflage patterns that mimic their surroundings, be it rocks or trees. Their bulletproof helmets will be outfitted with global positioning systems (GPS), image-transmitting devices and long-distance communications equipment. Previously imaginable only in sci-fi movies, this kind of high-tech gear will be supplied to South Korea's servicemen by 2020. "

Given South Korea's track record in high technology, this is a reasonable goal and will probably be realized. Contrast that with the state of nuclear weapons technology in the North.

The very thought of military technology as an export growth engine makes me think of my father, who was a great fan of President Dwight Eisenhower. In the 1952 U.S. presidential campaign, Eisenhower campaigned by saying "I will go to Korea," to end an unpopular war here. Near the end of his two-term presidency, he gave a now-famous speech warning against the unchecked growth of the "military-industrial" complex. President Eisenhower said:

"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. "

Today, the pressing issue in Korea is the digital divide, which can also be characterized as a technology gap. This needs to be addressed and solved so that the country, so tragically divided after World War II, can be reunited and move ahead. Technologically and economically speaking, there are many growth engines other than military technology and one might hope that the two Koreas will agree on future emphases other than the military one.

Some Thoughts on Growth Engines: Telecommunications and Shipbuilding

One of my Google alerts produced an item from the Electronic Times Newspaper 전자신문 that caught my eye. The headline was "Add IT to Shipbuilding." This prompts me to expand on a thought that has been recurring lately, as commentators note the need for Korea to find new growth engines to support future expansion of the economy. I would argue that electronics and information technology is THE fundamental growth engine, not only for South Korea but for all modern economies. In a broader sense, as Wilbur Schramm, a founding father of the field of communication research as a social science, once noted, "communication is the fundamental social process." On the technology side of communications, as a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times put it, "If innovation has a heart, it’s probably a semiconductor, beating to the pace of Moore’s Law." That article goes on to describe how, using nanotechnology, IBM has developed self-assembly techniques that may prolong the life of Moore's law (the prediction that the number of transistors that can be placed on a single chip approximately doubles every 18 months--see graph, courtesy of The Economist). The telecommunications revolution in South Korea, which began in the 1980s, will likely continue for the foreseeable future, driven primarily by developments in information technology. These IT developments will, in turn, provide the basis for advancements in many fields, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, space research, construction, transportation and yes, shipbuilding. The recent report on shipbuilding notes that Korea's world-leading status is threatened because it is sandwiched between China,competitive in price, and European shipbuilders, who lead in the construction of high-value added ships. The solution? Shin Jung-hoon, CEO of Cadwin System, a shipbuilding architecture software developer, said, “Although it is a hefty industry, the shipbuilding industry takes a while to adopt new software. (Korea) is even slower than China, Japan and even Vietnam in introducing new software.” The same article noted that the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) had signed an MOU with the Ulsan city government, the Ulsan University and Hyundai Heavy Industry to cooperate in the IT based development of shipbuilding business. In November of 2007, the inter-Korean prime ministers' meeting agreed to begin construction of a shipbuilding factory in Anbyeon in the first half of 2008 and to modernize a ship repair factory in Nampo as soon as possible. Not surprisingly, telecommunications was one of the three main agenda items that North and South Korea discussed to further these joint efforts. And so, the telecommunications revolution in Korea continues to unfold.